With fingers crossed, 2006 is shaping up to be a hedge fund sparkler, as HF indicators are sizzling, reminiscent of days gone by. Notably, the HFN Hedge Fund Aggregate Average of single manager funds rose 2.25% in April, and up nearly to 7.97% year to date. With just a third of the year in the books, dare we dream that the year will finish in the mid-20%? Already, some of the substrategies are soaring at a blistering pace. The top gainer for last month was the HFN CTA/Managed Futures Average, which, after a slow start, surged a whopping 4.79% last month, with its year-to-date figure at 7.81%. But second in line, HFN Emerging Markets Average, which climbed 3.36% in April stands at a leading, lucky 13.13% YTD. The only drags on the otherwise stellar returns are the HFN Market Neutral Equity Average, down 0.49% in April, but up 2.54% YTD, and, of course, the HFN Convertible Arbitrage Average, which inched up only 0.35%, though its YTD of 5.16% also holds promise for the year. Considering that prognosticators predicted returns of around 7%, even an almost-loser sounds like a winner. The Hennessee Hedge Fund Index for April confirms the good news, with returns rising 1.53%, and 7.44% YTD. Its top performer, the Hennessee Global/Macro Index, increased 2.60%, with its YTD at 8.68%.